Cops and Guns

[Bill D]

When cops approach someone it's not like it used to be because
everybody has guns today. This makes the cop nervous and
we see what happens. We have armed the bad guys to go
against the cops.

[world wide wally]

1. All we need is more guns to protect ourselves.

[SYFROYH]

2. Bad guys have always had more firepower than cops.

Most cops were still using revolvers until the 1980s.

[uponit7771]

3. Black Americans aren't the bad guys

[Bill D]

4. Black Americans

You miss the point.
Of course black Americans are not the bad guys.
Most people stopped by cops are not the bad guys.
The point is without serious background checks the bad guys get guns.
Thus cops are nervous because everyone has guns, good guys and bad guys.

[uponit7771]

6. And still being a police officer is not a top 10 dangerous job in America. The reason I

... mention blacks people is we're shot disproportionately even though we don't carry proportionately.

It seems like a lot of fear cops have of Americans is in their head

[hunter]

5. Most cops don't have the temperament or the skills to use guns effectively.

Neither do the criminals.

The solution to this problem is to get rid of the guns.

[Jedi Guy]

7. Having worked for a police department, I can say that this is certainly true.

Cops are very much aware that any rando they interact with may be armed. The department I worked for conducted a study which concluded that of vehicles pulled over by officers, 70% contained a gun. If that factoid filtered its way down to us in communications, you can be damn sure the patrol officers knew it. So they're going into every traffic stop with the knowledge that there's more than likely a weapon in the car.

It's no wonder, then, that the officers I knew said they were more on alert during traffic stops than just about any other interaction they conduct.